The Inevitable
by anthropomorphychan
Summary: The inevitable occurred - and he was the first to find out.


**Title:** The Inevitable  
**Genre:** Humour  
**Summary:** The inevitable occurred - and he was the first to find out.  
**Disclaimer:** If I owned it, then certain things would not have happened. But alas, fate *aka Kishi-san* has dealt its cruel cards … *sobs*

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**The Inevitable**  
_anthropomorphichybrid_

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The inevitable occurred - and he was the first to find out.

She stood there with her back towards him, hair unbound and curling at the ends after a full day of being trapped in a singular messy bun. She loved her work; dense as he may be, there was no denying the passion and energy she exuded whenever she talked about her day at the hospital. But it was clear from the growing darkness under her eyes, the subtle stoop in her posture and the constant pressure her fingers were leaving on the base of her scalp the inescapable fatigue, a consequence of her high level profession.

_'Nothing but a minor by-product,'_ she once said, carelessly brushing it off.

Her eyebrows were scrunched in concentration (he couldn't help but quietly put away that image for a teasing session on wrinkles later), her sharp green eyes flitted through the shelves (possibly calculating the best quality per cost ratio as most shoppers do) and her lips pursed with indecision. The sight of her acting so normal, standing so casually, garbed in a faded shirt, the bottom half looking more salmon than the original red, plain khaki capris and civilian sandals made him smile. It reminded him that she too was only human despite her beastly strength and demeanour.

He was about to go over and talk to her when the inevitable occurred. He paused right by the tower of gleaming creamed corn cans.

She took a step back, pushing on the balls of her feet to reach towards an item on the top shelf. An inch shy of its mark, she cursed to herself quietly, only to jolt in surprise at the sudden feel of bare skin on her fingers as a shadow spread itself over her.

She wasn't surprised she didn't sense him. They've known each other for so long that out of familiarity a sense of safety was born - outside of the battlefield that is.

The pale, dark haired man smiled at her, smiling the smile he used just for her as he wordlessly passed the object she'd been reaching for. As the vacuum packed, upturned truncated cone traded owners, their hands touched once again.

She wasn't too sure why but, a faint flush had suddenly made itself present in her face.

His smile widened.

Greetings were exchanged, as did opinions. The man was pointing to the object he had handed her earlier, shaking his head about something before reaching to his left for another item. The bright yellow sign stated it was a similar item to the one the woman held, but of a different brand. Cheaper too. He took the first object out of her hands and switched it with the latter. The rosette lifted an eyebrow but took it anyway at his insistence.

The blonde man standing by the creamed corns could only look on in dismay, blue eyes dimming down to an overcast grey.

They must have talked for about ten more minutes before the two left together walking side by side, arms swinging in eurhythmic harmony - not touching, but close.

Cloudy eyes gazed on, traveling from their too close shoulders, down to the elbows, to the wrists that touch every so often and finally landing at the woman's hand which still clutched the object the dark haired man had given her last.

Soon, he could see them no longer, the object in her hand nothing but a fleeting memory in his mind's eye.

Taking a few slow steps forward, the blonde man reached the spot where the two had stood before. His hand reached out to the empty space on the shelf and caressed the surface. Dust and fine powder clung to his skin. He pulled his hand towards the yellow sign, ghosting his fingers over the large letters that spelled 'SPECIAL'.

A defeated sigh escaped his lips.

He knew it was inevitable.

It was bound to happen.

After all the years of them spending together, he had finally converted Sai and Sakura to Ichiraku's Limited Edition Instant Miso Ramen.

And they even took the last one.

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**You weren't expecting that were you? ;P**

**Gosh I needed this break. I've been in a slump since 614 and I figured I needed to do something different - hopefully this is just what I need to get going at all my other unfinished stories. :)  
**


End file.
